Jose Mourinho discusses the whizz kids set to make an impact at Chelsea

STARLETS: Ruben Loftus-Cheek is one youngster to get first team action this season [GETTY]

A number of the Blues' young players have been handed spots in Mourinho's match-day squads in recent weeks.

And the Portuguese boss reckons being around the club's senior stars is an important step in a young player's development.

Mourinho said: "It's a way to find conditions to pay some high salaries, when you have four or five young boys coming from the Academy who in the beginning you obviously pay lower than that.

"It's also to try to give them a chance. In this moment we have on the bench Christensen, Ake, Loftus-Cheek. Even if they're not playing - because the moment hasn't arrived for them to play a lot yet - to train with the first team, to be on the bench, to feel the pressure of a big game, all this is important for their development.

"It's about the potential of the players and it's about opportunities. It doesn't have to be about confidence or age; it has to be about talent. Kurt Zouma is 20 and he played against Liverpool and Man City and we had no problems with that.

"I know it was a couple of minutes but Loftus-Cheek made his Premier League debut against Man City. It's our idea to think about the future, and when I come to a club with four years' contract it means that I am not going to stay for four months. I have to try to anticipate what is normal - players getting older, preparing the kids for the future."

Despite his efforts to look to the future, Mourinho is quick to warn about throwing his starlets into the deep end of the Premier League pool.

He added: "But I also know Chelsea's nature is to win, or at least to fight to win, so it's more difficult to do that in the team with the profile we have."